Saturday, January 31, 2015

Deconstruction

When Jill and the kids moved into their house a little over a year ago, they were very excited about the hot tub on the deck.  But alas, that old tub had serious plumbing problems and after much fixing that didn't work, the decision was made not to pour any more time or money into it.  

The tub was in an enclosure that looked like a garden shed.  The shed blocked the deck from having any real view of the yard.  It was scheduled for demolition.

Today was the day.  Jill rented a truck and recruited her brother, her dad, her friend Steve and her Aunt Jan to help.  I was in charge of lunch and whatever. 

When I arrived later in the morning, deconstruction had begun.
Shortly thereafter Jill arrived with the rental truck.  She asked Steve to back it up into the yard.  And there it remained for the next almost two hours, stuck.
Yup, that truck was stuck.  After trying many different means of extraction, Jan finally used her little Subaru and pulled it onto firmer ground.  We put the truck back in the driveway, and work on the shed resumed. 

This work was too heavy for me, so I gardened. 
I cleaned up the dead plants around Irene's tree in the pot on the front porch, and added some pretty primroses I had picked up on the way over this morning.  Then I weeded and removed dead annuals in the beds along the front of the house.

Irene hugged me and said that "Treey" was very happy to be cleaned up and pretty again. 
It was about 4:30 when the shed was reduced to pieces and the pieces had been stuffed onto the unstuck truck. We all helped with the clean up. It was a lot of hard work, and everyone was glad it was done in time to get the debris to the dump.
A local hot tub company will be coming to salvage anything they might be able to use from the defunct tub.  Later in the spring we'll add railings and pressure wash and repaint the deck. Jill vows that there will be another hot tub back in that spot someday, just open air this time. 

There's always work to do in an older home. 

14 comments:

  1. Wow! That was a TON of work, but it's always more fun and easier when you've got a lot of hands helping. You did a great job with the gardening too. Jill is so lucky to have you all.

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  2. You accomplished a lot in a short amount of time! What a great crew!

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  3. I prefer and recommend looking into a Japanese soaking tub.
    These sit one straight up and displace the right amount of water to take weight off the body and creating great relaxation. IMO nothing in the world compares. 2 can soak at a time.

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  4. It makes quite a difference to have that enclosure gone...worth all the effort. How wonderful to have all that help from loving family and friends.

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  5. Awesome new header. More hands make light work and some hands have to make the food!

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  6. Yikes! That was definitely a lot of work, and the stuck truck didn't help matters. Glad you got that gardening done, it always makes me feel so much better when I see it looking so good! Go Hawks! :-)

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  7. We were thinking of installing a hot tub in the patio, but we are private people and don't want the neighbors staring at us.

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  8. Even homes that are not that old have endless repair and replacement jobs! You folks are hard workers and really do a good job working together!

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  9. That was a lot of work! I used a crowbar tool just today tearing down our old well house. Almost game time! I've been thinking about you all today! Good luck!

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  10. Many hands made quick work of that project! :)

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  11. Wahoo...what wonderful family and friends to make that job get done. And you planted flowers, too. Amazing!!

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  12. Everything cleaned up nicely. I really need to clean out my flower beds too...wish I had a crew to help me! I hope your daughter gets her hot tub. I use ours every night before going to bed. I love basking in the hot, hot water looking up at the stars...even when it rains or snows.

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  13. I just read all about the Kitchen Project and now you all are up to hot tub and shed demolition. You all wear me out. I thought pruning 14 Apple tree was a chore but got me beat all to you know what.

    I am not even going to mention the heartbreak of a super bowl.
    MB

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